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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29880636">You Gave Me The Wings To Fly</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/izukinnie/pseuds/izukinnie'>izukinnie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SK8 the Infinity (Anime)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode 7, Hugging, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Feelings, M/M, langa takes care of reki's injuries, langa's house is closer because i said so, they make up</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 03:02:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,704</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29880636</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/izukinnie/pseuds/izukinnie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Reki.”</p><p>He doesn’t turn around. He can’t face him anymore, not like this.</p><p>“What—” He does his best to keep his voice from cracking, but there’s an ounce of vulnerability there when he speaks again. “What do you want, Langa?”</p><p>The rain intensifies. “If you go home now, you’ll get sick.”</p><p>-</p><p>Langa convinces Reki to come to his place so they can talk things out.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>206</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>You Gave Me The Wings To Fly</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You and I aren’t… a good match anymore.”</p><p>He realizes he’s crying as he walks away. The sadness, frustration, and fear keep building up inside him and the rain is heavy, mirroring his inner turmoil. <em>We’re not a good match anymore.</em></p><p>What happened to them? They were laughing and having fun together just a few days ago.</p><p>He promised. He said he wouldn’t be reckless. And why is skating against Adam so important? Why is he so eager to get himself into danger? Why? Isn’t he aware of the risks? Isn’t skating with him enough anymore?</p><p>
  <em> Skating together with someone amazing like that gets you excited! </em>
</p><p>It replays in his head over and over again.</p><p>Is he just... not good enough anymore?</p><p>He freezes in place when he feels a hand grab his wrist again. This time, he doesn’t push it away. A breathy voice speaks.</p><p>“Reki.”</p><p>He doesn’t turn around. He can’t face him anymore, not like this.</p><p>“What—” He does his best to keep his voice from cracking, but there’s an ounce of vulnerability there when he speaks again. “What do you want, Langa?”</p><p>The rain intensifies. “If you go home now, you’ll get sick.”</p><p>“I don’t ca—”</p><p>“My place is closer, so come with me… please. I want us to talk things out.”</p><p>Reki grits his teeth. “Why?”</p><p>“You’re my friend,” he replies in a low tone, squeezing his hand. Reki can detect sorrow in his voice. Sorrow… and hope. Desperate, fragile hope. Langa doesn’t understand.</p><p>The wet clothes sticking to his body are getting uncomfortable and, oblivious to it until now, he realizes he’s shivering. That could be why he lets Langa lead the way. But it isn’t. Maybe, with everything slowly starting to pull them apart, he just wants to feel close to his best friend one more time. Maybe he, too, wants to give his own desperate hope a chance.</p><p>They walk in silence, Langa still holding his hand, and Reki looking down to it, rain and tears washing his face, his heart pounding painfully in his chest with feelings he can’t quite describe. <em> If only something like this didn’t have to happen for us to hold hands</em>.</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
</p><p>“Here,” Langa says, as he gives Reki a towel. Rain is still pouring outside.</p><p>They're now sitting on his bed, their bags dropped on the floor, in a quiet but uneasy atmosphere<b>.</b> Langa’s hair falls disheveled on his forehead, damp but no longer soaked. Reki contemplates the towel he gave him but doesn’t move to do anything about his own hair.</p><p>Langa told him to change to dry clothes of his own, so he did. Langa told him to sit, so he did. He has yet to say something, yet to look at his best friend in the eyes. He’s been sitting there, avoiding Langa’s eyes as he pretends to be interested in his own feet, not really sure of what he should say. Unusually quiet, as he’s been for the past few days.</p><p>"How'd you get these injuries?" Langa asks, pointing to his hands and face, to the scratches and scrapes he got earlier that day.</p><p>"Skating," he shrugs slightly. "They don't hurt." At least, not as much as everything else.</p><p>"I'll take care of them," he says, getting up and leaving the room.</p><p>Reki watches as he leaves, then looks around. Langa has a clean and organized room. <em>As expected</em>, he thinks to himself. A picture on the wall catches his eye; there’s stainless snow everywhere and a small boy with flushed cheeks laughs next to a good-humored man. His dad, he remembers.</p><p>Before he can think too much about it, Langa comes back with a first aid kit and sits cross-legged at his right.</p><p>“Give me your hand,” he demands. Reki obeys and gives him his left hand, which Langa holds before using a cloth to gently clean the scrapes.</p><p>“I want to understand,” he starts reluctantly, still focused on the task at hand, “how you feel.”</p><p>Reki shifts uncomfortably, preparing himself for the conversation they’re about to have. He should probably be honest since he’s already said too much about his own feelings. <em> Too late to back down now, </em>he thinks.</p><p>“I told you I’m scared,” he mutters, paying extra attention to Langa going over every scratch on his hand.</p><p>“You don’t have to skate against A—”</p><p>“It’s not me I’m scared for!” he raises his voice, frustrated. He’s starting to feel on the edge again. Why can’t he understand? “I’m scared for <em> you</em>. I told you already, Adam’s dangerous. He’ll just play with you however he wants. And you’ll end up at the hospital if you let it happen again…” he lowers his gaze to the floor “...like me.”</p><p>“Reki, but—”</p><p>“Do you know just how worried I’ve been about you?” he shouts, feeling tears prickle in the corner of his eyes. “I don’t want to lose my closest friend! You’ll get hurt if you keep pushing yourself into danger. Do you not care about any of that? Are you that blind by your admiration for that man?”</p><p>At that, Langa’s hand stops moving and none of them speaks for a moment.</p><p><em> Great, I fucked up again. This is all my fault. If only I was a bett</em>—</p><p>Langa clears his voice, interrupting his thoughts. “It’s not Adam I care about specifically, you know. Ever since—” He hesitates before proceeding. “Ever since my father died, it’s like there’s a missing piece somewhere... And leaving snowboarding behind…every memory with him...that was hard, too. But when I went to S and raced against Adam…that feeling…it made me forget about everything for a moment. All that mattered was how fast I was going and how far I could go. No regrets, no ghosts from the past. It was just me and the thrill of the moment. All that was in my mind was that I could go further and further. I want to experience that feeling again...because I haven’t felt like this in a long time. And what more is there for me?” He was speaking in a low voice now, almost inaudible. “Right now...skateboarding is all I have.”</p><p>“No,” Reki lets out with a choked voice, still avoiding the other’s eyes. He feels a mix of feelings begging to be released. “You have me as well, you know?”</p><p>He thinks back to the last couple of days. Miya, Shadow, the people from S… Everyone thought the same thing about him. He was the one that wasn’t Langa. The one that got left behind. </p><p>“I know it might not be as exciting to skate with me anymore. I’m not...good enough. Everyone says that. I’m Langa’s friend that isn’t even worthy enough to be remembered.” His voice threatens to crack but he tells himself that he won’t break down. Not yet. “And, Langa, you fly so high. Why’d you want to be friends with me when I can no longer keep up with you? I don’t want to be a burden. Which is why I wanted to be the one to put some definitive distance between us.” He says word after word with difficulty, ignoring the pain in his chest.</p><p>“Still, I’m here, Langa. For as long as you want me around.” He looks up with a pained smile, expecting to make eye contact for the first time since they argued. “I’m not going anywhere if you don’t want me to.”</p><p>To his surprise, he finds Langa looking away, his lower lip trembling slightly. He doesn’t say anything. At the sight, Reki suddenly embraces him in a hug, wrapping his arms around him and squeezing his eyes shut. Langa, in turn, wraps his arms around his lower back, resting his forehead on Reki’s shoulder.</p><p>A few minutes pass, and just as Reki’s about to say something, or try, Langa speaks.</p><p>“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you felt that way,” he mumbles against the crook of his neck. “You’re my best friend, of course I want you around. In my eyes, you’ll always be amazing, Reki. So much more amazing than me. So much more amazing than everyone.”</p><p>Reki holds down a sob. “That’s not tr—”</p><p>“Who taught me how to skate? Who modified my skateboard until it was perfect? It was you, Reki. The only reason I’m able to fly so high is because you gave me wings.” He’s now speaking so low he’s almost whispering. If they weren’t in this situation, Reki would’ve laughed at the tickling sensation on his neck. ”You’ve made my life worth living again, and it isn’t just because you introduced me to skateboarding. You, yourself, are enough. And you’re more important to me than anyone else. So much more.”</p><p>Reki’s chest bursts with emotions at those words. He can no longer keep the tears from falling.</p><p>“Then why can’t you just do what I ask of you?” he asks, his voice failing him. “I just don’t want you to get hurt…” he says, between low sobs.</p><p>Langa holds him with care, rubbing circles on his back in an attempt to calm him down. When his breath gets steadier, he pulls away, holding Reki’s face with shaky hands.</p><p>“I won’t get hurt if you’re with me,” he says with a small but tender smile. “Plus, it’s not like I’m sure that I’ll get to skate against Adam, I just want to participate in the tournament, okay? If you really don’t want me to skate against Adam then I won’t...I’ll talk to you before making any decision. Always. Like today.”</p><p>Reki averts his gaze from Langa’s face.</p><p>“You better…” he mutters.</p><p>Langa’s face lights up. “Alright.”</p><p>Tracing the small scrapes on Reki’s face with his index, he says, “I’m going to take care of these now.”</p><p>Reki’s face burns hot at the intimacy and <em> oh my god. </em> He suddenly comes to the realization that Langa’s lips were brushing against his skin just a few minutes ago. <em> Stay cool, </em> he tells himself.<em> I can freak out about this later. </em></p><p>Their eyes meet again and his gaze picks up the slight pink on Langa’s cheeks. <em> Is he embarrassed? </em></p><p>He doesn’t know why, but the thought makes him smile.</p><p>“Okay.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i hope you enjoyed this fanfic! comments are very much appreciated :p</p><p>you can find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/iKithEren">twitter</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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